Guild Wars 2

So, after getting my Ranger to 80 I’ve decided to start a Guardian. After skipping levels 10-20 (thanks Cooking) I’m now at 25 and have been messing around with some builds and talking to some people in LA. From what I can tell, almost every Guardian is different. Everyone likes a different play-style and this class offers a wide array of both defensive and offensive options.

After being a tank in most MMOs I’ve played it seems like this class is going to be fun! So I went to the Heart of the Mists just to test on the dummies and my build seems pretty fun although I’m not sold on some things. Take a look.

I really like the Consecration skills and will probably go with them no matter what. The only thing that makes me a bit uneasy is the staff. The damage from the staff is, terrible, to say the least. I know I’m not supposed to be a warrior or anything but the damage seems a bit lacking. I feel, even at this low level, myself constantly switching between my staff to put a ward down and swapping back to my mace to actually kill something.

I’ve also been experimenting with the greatsword which seems like one of the best weapons for a Guardian. So, any advice*? Tips?

*Before you ask, yes I’ve used Scepter and it just does not really fit my play-style. I want to be in mid-melee range and have a lot of defensive abilities.

I would highly recommend at least considering hammer/greatsword or hammer/sword+focus as your two weapon sets. I realize this leaves you with no ranged option, but that’s one of the beautiful things about the Guardian—you can get away without having a ranged option in most cases.

Note that I said in most cases: always carry an up-to-date staff or scepter + focus/shield in your bags. Always. There will be times where you can’t get on top of an enemy and kill them properly in the face, so you’ll have to settle for chucking whatever small bits of light you can spare at them. Staff works just about as well as scepter in most cases; even if you don’t use it for damage you can most definitely use it for support until whatever is causing you to hold off on your proper face-pounding goes away or dies. If you’re just worried about getting hit too hard, instead of there being some sort of powerful anti-melee field surrounding a boss (as an example), use your hammer and stay in the symbol to keep up protection.

However, this is the exception, not the rule. For general PvE, you don’t need a ranged weapon at all. Greatsword keeps you mobile, while the pull on the greatsword 5 can bring enemies into proper facepounding range and the hammer 3 and 5 can be used to keep them there. If anything gives you serious trouble, pull out the hammer 4 and practice your golf skills.

Consecrations are great, though they don’t match my playstyle particularly well. Also consider the shouts—some of them, especially Save Yourselves in conjunction with the 5-point minor Virtues trait, can be supportive lifesavers (SY pulls conditions from allies to yourself, stacking them up, and activating Resolve with the Virtues 5-point trait will remove 3 of the stacked conditions; unless your enemy is using a huge variety of conditions instead of just stacking a few very heavily this will usually result in a full-party cleanse, just as powerful as Contemplation of Purity—but it guarantees that you gain all the boons from SY for at least 10 seconds, which is very powerful).

First of, no-one will ask you if you tried the Scepter. Despite the overall “okayness” of it, it’s not a popular weapon.
On to your build: Ditch Two-Handed Mastery if you’re only using the Staff (and you even admit to not using it that much). You’re group is probably better of with you taking Battle Presence, although other options are also a possibility.
I also wouldn’t take Healing Breeze, especially not since you’re going to stick in melee range. Signet of Resolve is a popular option, but Shelter might also work for you (it certainly has a “tanky” feel).
You say you don’t like the Staff, only using it for Line of Warding. Why not try the Hammer. It has a Ward (Circle of Warding), just like the Staff and also a Symbol in addition to some fine damage.